Raising Teenagers With Your Ex
by SadaraLochlan
Summary: Kirk comes home on leave and finds that Sadara hasn't been as strict with their teenage daughter as he would like.


Captain Sadara Lochlan entered the observation lounge on Starbase One and looked around for her party. Her best friend since Starfleet Academy, Commander Kathleen Bradley kept pace with her, commenting about the recently remodeled areas of the starbase and the updated technology. Truth be told, Lochlan wasn't as captivated as Bradley was. Bradley was an engineer and naturally found those sorts of things irresistible and interesting. Her compatriot however wasn't concerned with it beyond the need for an understanding of the technology and its usefulness to her.

Sensing the disinterest on Sadara's part, Kathleen sighed with mock exasperation and helped her half Vulcan/half Human friend pluck out her quandary in the presently crowded observation lounge.

"I think I see Admiral Yamamoto in that large booth in the corner…," the cheerful redhead pointed across the large room. "And it looks like Captain Spock and Dr. McCoy are keeping him company."

"Let's grab a few drinks from the bar before we make our way over there."

Sadara and Kathleen edged their way up to the bar area, placed their order, and then carried their drinks over to the huge bay windows overlooking spacedock. A number of ships were currently moored in the spaceport in various stages of completion or refit, such as the USS Aries, which Captain Lochlan was currently overseeing the refit on. Others, such as the Enterprise A, were docked for a brief stayover. Bradley spared a glance for the Soyuz class, Aries that she'd been working to refit for the last year and a half; but she couldn't help but be mesmerized by the majesty that was the Enterprise.

Sadara shook her head in amusement, her long, chocolate brown curls swaying with the movement, and gave her best friend a pass on that one. It always had been and always would be that every other ship would pale in comparison to the storied USS Enterprise. The tales of the ship and its crew were legendary, the adventures awe inspiring, and the ship simply had a charisma that other ships didn't have.

Finally, Sadara put a gentle hand on Kathleen's shoulder and jerked her head toward their group in the corner. "Come on, let's go join the crew."

Disappointment dimmed the Irish woman's bright green eyes, but she nodded and followed her cohort as she made her way through the myriad beings crowding the dimly lit lounge. Arriving at Admiral Yamamoto's table, the young Vulcan/Human hybrid noted that Captain Kirk still hadn't made it from wherever he'd gotten held up.

"Mind if we join you?" Sadara smirked at Admiral Yamamoto who grinned happily in return.

"You found us!"

Don't sound so surprised; we do have a few functioning brain cells between us," Sadara joked as Kathleen laughed and slid into the booth alongside Yamamoto. Sadara sat down across from them, putting McCoy and Spock in the middle.

"Yeah, didn't even need our tricorders to find you party animals in this circus." Bradley smirked at Spock, whose eyebrows flew up into his hairline at that remark.

Checking the chronometer, Sadara looked around for her 17 year old daughter, Madeline who was supposed to join her very soon. Hopefully Madeline wouldn't be late; but she was a teenager and teenagers tended to have minds of their own. And Madeline certainly had one of those to the ongoing exasperation of her mother.

"Maddie?" Yamamoto queried.

Nodding, Sadara waved over the waiter for another round of drinks. "I promised Jim I'd have her here when he showed up. I'm hoping she won't make a liar out of me, but you know how unpredictable teenagers are."

"Indeed. Had four of them at one point. The stories I could tell you about teenagers…"  
"At this point I've got a few of my own." Sadara muttered sarcastically.

Sitting in the middle listening, Dr. McCoy wore a look of profound amusement though it was completely lacking any indication that he was surprised by her statement. Spock looked a milder version of amused.

Right on schedule, Madeline arrived at the table with a cat that ate the canary grin and perched herself on her mother's knee.

"Made it!"

"I see that. Guess what else I see?" Sadara sighed with exasperation as she took in her daughter's state of dress. Short shorts and a tank top were not going to go over well with her father.

Thinking about how to answer her mother for a moment, Madeline gathered her long, sandy blonde hair in her hands and twisted it. "Come on, mom, it's not that bad. Besides have you ever seen the chicks dad dates? I'm still wearing more clothes than they do."

"What men enjoy seeing on their girlfriends and what they'd enjoy seeing on their daughters are two very different things." Her mother said.

As Sadara took her newly arrived drink from the waiter, she noted the amused looks of her human companions and the thinly veiled look of fascination on the face of Mr. Spock. Apparently the Vulcan/Human hybrid and legendary first officer of the Enterprise hadn't had many opportunities to observe the interactions between mothers and daughters. McCoy, Yamamoto, and Bradley were smirking, all parents themselves and knowing that this was the uphill battle of parents everywhere.

"He probably won't even notice, mom." Madeline said, relaxing against her mother's shoulder.

"I wouldn't count on that if I were you. You should go change before he catches you."

"Killjoy," Madeline grumbled just as Captain James T. Kirk bounded up to the table. He currently wore a relaxed and contented expression that faded into a disapproving frown as he caught sight of his teenage daughter with more skin showing that some Orion slave girls he'd seen.

Oh shit… Sadara thought as she summoned her Vulcan control she so rarely used to keep her aqua blue eyes from rolling out of their sockets. I can see where this evening is headed already…

Sadara considered ordering another Scotch, but didn't want to send a message to her daughter that drunk was how one dealt with one's ex boyfriend and baby daddy.

The whole group shifted to make room for Captain Kirk's arrival, though the atmosphere had gone from jovial to slightly tense in the wake of Kirk's disapproving affect toward his ex and his daughter. The only one seemingly unphased was Madeline who had chosen not to wilt under her father's stern gaze. She glared defiantly back at him only serving to anger him more.

"Go put some clothes on… now," Kirk mouthed, not about to lose a stare down from his own 17 year old daughter.

Madeline groused about it for a long moment; but came to the hard to swallow conclusion that she'd be in a lot more trouble if she embarrassed her parents in front of their friends by arguing with them. Reluctantly, she stood.

"Hi dad, bye dad!" She said with mock cheerfulness and headed out.

Her mother waited until her child was out of earshot before commenting. "You know, she does have a point there. You could have at least said hi to her and given her a hug before you chewed her out. She hasn't seen you in months."

That softened Kirk's expression somewhat, but his eyes still held the earlier disapproval with incredulity creeping in.

"You let her go out like that?!" He whispered.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Jim, it's summertime in Nevada. It was 103 outside today." Sadara whispered back, her exasperation evident.

"She's my daughter and you're letting her run around in public with practically no clothes on. I'm supposed to be okay with that?! There are men everywhere!"

"I told her to change her clothes before coming up here. She disobeyed me. Teenagers do that sometimes!"

"I'm aware of that, but if she's not listening to you then perhaps her father can set her straight."

"What are you implying, Jim? That I'm a lousy mother?" Now liquid fire blazed angrily in the woman's light blue eyes.

"Of course not… I simply meant…"

"Save it, Jim," she said with finality as she raised herself quickly to her feet. "Did it ever occur to you that she's acting out because she *does* want your attention. I found out not too long ago she's been harboring a rather interesting, if unoriginal, forlorn hope. Three guesses what it is?"

Kirk could only shake his head, but his hazel eyes had lost the hardness from a few moments ago.

"She wants us to get back together, Jim. She wants you to stay home for a while and for us to be a family. I am now done discussing this in public as it was quite embarrassing. Our friends didn't come here to listen to us argue about Madeline. If you wish to continue this discussion, you know where to find me. If you don't want to see me, fine, but at least come visit your daughter. She misses you."

Downing the rest of her scotch, Sadara excused herself from the table and disappeared into the throng of people.

***  
A few hours later, James Kirk arrived at Lochlan's place, a small bag on his shoulder. It was their arrangement that he would stay with them when he visited their daughter. Normally the visits were pleasant, but this time Sadara greeted him with all the warmth of an iceberg. He followed her inside and headed for the bedroom to toss his bag on the neatly made bed. Sadara made her way to her daughter's bedroom door and gently rapped on it.

"Madeline, your father is here." She called through the door. No answer. Jim looked up at Sadara questioningly to which the young woman shrugged helplessly.

"Obviously she's still pouting."

Disapproval and a wee bit of anger flared in the starship captain's hazel eyes as he joined his ex girlfriend at their daughter's bedroom door. Having been the captain of a starship for a number of years in Starfleet, James Kirk was not used to being defied; and if his daughter thought she could out stubborn him, she had a new thought coming.

"Madeline, open the door right now." He said in a tone that brooked no opposition.

A muffled voice came from inside the room. "I don't want anybody right now. Leave me alone."

"That's not what I asked, young lady."

After a long moment, the door slowly creaked open just enough to let Madeline poke her head through it. Her normally bright blue eyes were dull, red, and puffy from crying. Kirk looked taken aback for a brief second by his daughter's obvious distress, but quickly schooled his features back to its previously stern expression. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the bedroom, finding the young girl's room to be obscenely neat and tidy; the opposite of what he envisioned most teenagers' rooms to appear.

James Kirk sat down on her pristinely made bed and looked up at his child who was still standing near the door with a look on her face that obviously screamed "get me outta here!"

"Anything you want to talk about, Maddie?"

"Not really." She replied flatly.

"Not really?" He repeated back to her, his voice belying his skepticism.

The young blonde, shrugged. "Talking about it won't change anything."

Kirk cast a frustrated look over at his ex, who remained silent. He didn't have the years of experience being a constant parent that Sadara had, having remained in a ground assignment to raise their daughter. And he had to admit he was in a quandary about how to deal with the obstinance and occasional logic of teenagers. Certainly Sadara had the harder job. Surely captaining a starship was a piece of cake compared to this.

"Well tell me anyway."

Exhaling, Madeline wished she could just beam away from this conversation, but angering her father further wasn't a good idea. Sitting next to him on her bed, she folded her arms defensively and cast her gaze toward her window, noting the thunderstorm brewing. It was a fitting end to a disappointing day.

"I guess I'm disappointed that you and mom have never reconciled. I kinda kept hoping over the years that when you'd visit, you two would decide to get together again and you'd stay home with us. Would have been nice to have a sibling too. But like I said, talking about it isn't gonna make it happen."

Kirk looked out of the corner of his eye at Sadara; this time with a look of desperation. "What am I supposed to say to her?" He mouthed at her.

Taking pity on Jim, Sadara finally piped up. "We'll talk about it, Madeline. I promise." At least that bought her and Jim some time to discuss the matter further, but Sadara hoped that Madeline didn't get her hopes up. Talking about things didn't necessarily guarantee a solution, but it appeared that Madeline was already well aware of that.

The girl shrugged as if she knew that the answer to all her hopes would be no as her father tiredly lifted himself from his seat on her bed. He felt conflicted in ways that he'd never experienced before. He now knew what would make his daughter happy. What he didn't know was if he and his ex were able to give her those things. They cared for each other; loved each other still to some extent, but Kirk hadn't been able to give his career up for parenthood as Sadara had brought herself to do. But Kirk was nearing retirement soon and would no longer be away most of the time. Unfortunately, Madeline would be an adult by then. So much time had passed; would anything they tried to fix matter at this point? The conundrum made Kirk's head hurt.

"Go fix yourself something to eat, Maddie," Sadara jerked her head toward the kitchen. "Your father and I will go have a chat."

Kirk pulled his daughter into a quick hug before following Sadara into her own bedroom, shutting the door behind him quietly.

"How long have you known about this?" Kirk turned to Sadara as she pulled her long, dark brown hair out of its customary french twist and let the chocolate locks fall down her nicely sculpted back.

"I overheard her about a month ago talking about it to her best friend. I'm afraid I was nosy and listened outside her bedroom door like a bad mom after I accidentally heard bits and pieces passing by her bedroom." She said, running a brush through her hair.

"I'll be retiring soon," Kirk said matter of factly. "I can at least be around more, but I don't know if even that will be enough for her…"

"She wants what all children want; her parents to love each other and be together."

Kirk shook his head. "Love isn't the problem," he said softly.

Nodding, Sadara smiled slightly, almost sadly. "We aren't always… compatible long term. Any chance we've mellowed over the years?" The smile grew wider, warmer, and finally touched her clear, blue eyes.

"Only one way to find out." The starship captain smiled his best Kirk smile. Sadara laughed and quickly grabbed a pillow from her bed, holding it between them so she couldn't see it.

"Don't smile at me like that! It was irresistible the first time and had a lot to do with how we ended up in this mess in the first place!"

Yanking the pillow away from her, Kirk chuckled and tossed it back on the bed, then pulled Sadara gently to him and kissed her passionately. After a long moment, they pulled apart and Sadara laid her tiny hands on his chest, pondering her daughter's wishes again. "She wanted a sibling too…"

Kirk wasn't certain where this second stab at a relationship with Sadara would lead so he wasn't about to promise his daughter a brother or sister, but as Madeline had proven with her birth, sometimes fate had a way of intervening.

"Accidents happen," he smirked with amusement.


End file.
